1. Earth Earth is part of our solar system and revolves around our sun. It is the third rocky inner planet away from the sun in a zone called the “Goldilocks zone” This is a zone around any star that is capable of supporting life as we know it.

2. Earth The earth takes 24 hours to rotate on it’s axis. this is known as a day The Earth takes one year or 365 days to complete 1 orbit or revolution around the sun. As the Earth revolves around the sun different season’s affect the different parts of the Earth The seasons are caused by the earth’s tilt on its axis as it travels around it’s orbit

4. How Sunlight Hits Earth The diagram below shows how sunlight hits Earth’s surface. Notice that at the equator, sunlight hits Earth’s surface more directly. Closer to the poles, sunlight hits Earth’s surface at an angle. Near the poles, energy from the sun is spread out over a greater area. That is why it is warmer near the equator than near the poles.

5. Seasons The earth’s seasons are caused by the tilt of earth on it’s axis. This tilt is 23.5 degrees. The tilt was caused by a collision with a large planet like body that created the moon

6. Seasons In the Spring and Fall the sun’s rays are directly hitting the equator The equator is an imaginary line the runs across the earth separating the northern and southern hemispheres In the Summer and Winter the suns rays are at their farthest from the equator

7. Summer solstice Where we live in the Northern hemisphere the sun’s rays are closest to us on June 21 st also known as the summer solstice

8. Winter Solstice In the northern hemisphere when the suns rays are farthest from us on December 21st this is known as the winter solstice.

9. Spring & Fall Equinox The time in March and September where the sun’s rays are directly hitting the equator is know as the equinox. This is known as the first day of Spring or Fall Equinox means equal day

10. Eclipse An eclipse occurs when an object in space comes between the sun and a third object, and casts a shadow on that object. There are two types of eclipses: solar eclipses and lunar eclipses. Solar eclipses can only occur during the day Lunar eclipses occur during full moon

11. Solar Eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between Earth and the sun, blocking the sunlight from reaching Earth. This is the moon’s shadow that hits Earth.

12. Solar Eclipses Partial eclipses are when people in the penumbra ( a shadow caused by the moon) are still able to see the sun although it is dimmed or partially blocked by the moon Total eclipses are when people are in the umbra which is a cone shaped shadow. These people are treated to a complete blocking of the sun and can see stars and the outer edge of the sun

13. Lunar Eclipses A lunar eclipse occurs at a full moon when Earth is directly between the moon and the sun. During a lunar eclipse, Earth blocks sunlight from reaching the moon. The moon is then in Earth’s shadow and looks dark from Earth.